BEE 



BEE 



T!-.e great fiiigularity of this inflrument is the height of 

 ^he frets ; that nearefl the nut is one inch -g., and that 

 ;rt the other txtreniity ahout Jths of an inch, and the de- 

 crcafe is prtlty gradual. By tliis means the fint^er never 

 touches the finger-board itfelf. The frets are fixed on with 

 V ax by the performer himfelf, which he does entirely by 

 ear. 



The frets are nineteen in number. On the wires R and S, 

 wTiich are thofe principally ufed, there is an extent of two 

 oAaves, a whole note with all the half notes complete in the 

 firft odave, but the g t^, and b b wanting in the fecond. 

 The performer's apology for this was, that he could eafily 

 get thofe notes by prefling the (Iring a little hard upon the 

 frets_/")JJ; and i^'b;, which is very true from the height of the 

 frets ; but he afferted that this was no defeft in his parti- 

 cular inftrumcnt, but that all beens wxre made fo. The 

 wires TU are fcldom ufed, except open. 



The been is held over the left (houlder, the upper gourd 

 refting 0:1 that (houlder, and the lower one on the right 

 knee. 



The frets are flopped with the left-hand ; the firll and 

 fecond fingers are principally ufed. The little finger of 

 this hand is fometimes uL-d to llrike the note V. The 

 third finger is feldom ufed, the hand (hifting up and down 

 the finger-board with great rapidity. The fingers of the 

 right hand are ufed to ftrike the firings of this hand ; the 

 third finger is never ufed. The two firll finjrers ilrike the 



n ■ 



wires on the finger-board, and the little finger Ilrikes the 

 two wires. The two firft fingers of this hand are defended 

 by a piece of wire put on the tops of them in the manner 

 of a thimble : when the performer plays flrong, this caufes a 

 very jarring difagreeable found ; whereas, when he plays 

 foftly, the tone of the inilrument is remarkably pleafing. 



The llyle of mufic on this inilrument is in g'cneral that of 

 great execution. Icould hardly ever difcovtr, fays Mr.Fowke, 

 any regular air or fubjedl. The mufic feems to confift of a 

 number of detached paffages, fomc very regular in their afcent 

 and defcent : and thofe th.it arc played foftly, are mod of 

 them both uncommon and pleafing. Afiatic Refearches, 

 vol. i. p. 295, &:c. See P/tiUsol ALi/ic. 



BEER, a fpirituous hqnor, made from any farinaceous 

 grain ; but generally from barley. Accordingly, it is a 

 liquor of very ancient and general ufe. See Ale. 



The word is Saxon, formed from the German bier, of the 

 Latin b'were. 



Several authors have maintained, that there was no malt 

 liquor known by the appellation of beer, as dillinguiilied 

 from the ancient liquor called ale, till the ufe of hops was 

 introduced. See Hops. However, we find, bv a ilatute 

 of the twelfth parliament of the 23d year of king James HI. 

 of Scotland, (c. 88.) that it was enafted, that no perfons 

 fliould mix wine or " beer," under pain oF death. Befides 

 this inftancc, occurring in 1482, many others might be 

 produced confuting the vulgar tradition, that beer, as a li- 

 quor, dilliiidl from a1e, was not known in England till the 

 reign of Henry VHI. In the year 1492, we find a licence 

 from king Henry VH. to a Fleming (c!teJ in the 12th tome 

 of the " F(rdera," p. 471.) for exporting fifty tons of ale, 

 called "beer" or " bere ;" and in the fame year one of the 

 king's attendants into France was a beer-brewer of Green- 

 wich in Kent. Although it may probably be true, that 

 beer, brewed with hops, was not knovvn in England till 

 after this time ; yet other materials were ufed, before hops 

 were known, for making the liquor that was called " beer," 

 fuch as wormwood, and other plant?, which fervcd inllead 

 of hops, for prcferving malt-liquo'-, either bv lea or land. 



6 



Beer is made from malt by extraflioH with water and fer- 

 mentation. With this view, a'qua;;tity of malt, freed from its 

 germ?, and fufScicnt forone intendedbrewingjiscoarfclybruif- 

 ed by grinding, and in the mafh-tub, firll well mixed with 

 fomc cold, then fcaldcd with hot water drawn upon it from 

 the boiler. It is afterwards ftrongly and uniformly llirred. 

 When the whole mafs has flood quii-tly f,-r a certain time, 

 the extraft (ma(h), or fweet-wovt, is brought into the 

 boiler; and the malt remaining in the tub is once more ex- 

 trailed by infufion with hot wp.ter. This fecond extraft, 

 treated in like manner, is added to the firft, and both are 

 boiled together. This clear decoftion is now drawn off, 

 and called boiled wort. To make the beer more fit for 

 digeftion, and at the fame time to deprive it of its too 

 great and unpleafant fweetnefs, the wort is mixed with 3 

 decodlion of hops, or clfe thefe are boiled with it. After 

 which it ought to be quickly cooled, to prevent its tranfition 

 into acetous fermentation, which would enfue, if it were 

 kept too long in a high tcmper.iture. On this account, the 

 wort is transferred into the cooler ; where it is expoftd with 

 a large furface to cold air, and from this to the fermenting 

 tub, that by addition|of a fufficient portion of recent yeall it 

 may begin to ferment. When this fermentation has pro- 

 ceeded to a due degree, and the yeaft ceafes to rife, the 

 beer is conveyed into caflis, placed in cool cellars, where it 

 finifhes its fermentation, and where it is well kept and pre- 

 ferved under the name of " barrelled beer," with the pre- 

 caution of occaiionally filling up the vacancy caufed in the 

 vefTels by evaporation. Or, the beer is bottled before it 

 has done fermenting ; and the bottles are flopped a little 

 before the fermentation is completely over. By fo doing, 

 the bottled beer is rendered fpsrkling. In this flate it 

 frequently burfts the bottles, by the difengagement of the 

 carbonic acid gas which it contains ; and it itiongly froths, 

 like champaign, when brought into contaft with air on being 

 poured into another Vfffel. Gren's Chymiftry, vol. ii. p. 63.. 

 For the proccfs of brewing, particularly according to tae 

 Englilh mode ; fee Brewing. 



Beer, well prepared, fhould be limpid and clear, pofTefs a 

 due quantity of fpirit, excite no difagreeable fwcet tafle, 

 and contain no difengaged acid. By thefe properties, it is 

 a fpecies of vinous beverage, and is dillinguifiied from wine, 

 in the ftricl fenfe, and other liquors of that kind, by the 

 much greater quantity of mucilaginous m.atter which it has 

 received by extradlion from the melted grains ; but which 

 alio renders it more nounfhi"g. " Brown beer" derives its co- 

 lour from malt llrongly roafied in the kiin, and its bitterifli 

 tafte from the hops. " Pale beer" is brewed from malt 

 dried in the air, or but flightly roafied, with but little or no 

 hops at all. 



Tacitus, in fpeaking of the ancient Germans, as alfo Diof- 

 corides, Galen, &c. condemn beer, as prtjudicial to the 

 head, nerves, and membranous parts, as occafioning a more 

 lading and more uncafy drunkennefs than wine, and as pro- 

 moting a fuppreffion of urine, and fometimes a leprofy. 



McfT. Perrault, Rainffant, and others, defend the mo- 

 dern beer : urging, that the hops ufed w^ith us, and which 

 the ancients were llrangers to, having a faci.lty of purifying 

 the blood, and removing obilrutlions, fcrve as a correftive, 

 and free our drink from the inconveniences objetled to that 

 of the ancients. For the qualities of beer, fee M-^lt-Li- 

 yv'OR. 



In New England they make beer from maife, or even the 

 bread made thereof. Some phyficians recommend beer 

 made of cats and birch-water, as preferable, io nephritic 



cafes. 



